A Bond Split In Two
by SonOfHestia14
Summary: (SPOILERS FOR RISE OF SKYWALKER) Saving Rey from certain death came at a terrible price for Ben Solo, and no this time it's not death. What will Rey do when she finds out the darkness Ben now possesses? Will their love be enough to reunite their hearts across the galaxy and restore peace to a galactic war? Rated T... for now.
1. Chapter 1

Emperor Palpatine wailed as force lighting was repelled off of Rey's dual lightsabers. His skin, recently renewed, started to melt away with the force of his own power. Sweat fell off of Rey's face as she pushed forward, the power of a thousand generations of Jedi coursing through her. With one final push, the last of the emperor was stripped away, the force of it all sending shockwaves into the crowds of Sith Followers in the stands surrounding the throne room, and leaving nothing but rubble, an empty throne, and Rey.

The cavern grew dark, the currents of force lightning dwindling out, the only light being from the distant explosions of war far above. Rey collapsed against the cold, scorched floor all light leaving her eyes. The power of defeating Palpatine had been too much. The battle above seemed to stand still for a moment as all felt the force leave Rey. Far above Finn let out a scream, sensing Rey's death through the force. But in the cavern, all was silent.

* * *

Ben Solo let out a gasp of breath as he awoke from his unconsciousness. Perched on a cliff edge several feet below the floor of the throne room, the last thing he remembered was Palpatine using the force to send him flying down to where he lay now. All was silent now, leaving Ben confused, his ears still ringing. Ben let out another gasp, "Rey!".

Using the force to jump several feet, he latched onto the cliff edge, pulling himself up into the throne room. Everything was collapsed and destroyed but at the foot of Palpatine's throne ley Rey. Despite the aching pain in his leg, Ben limped over to her, stumbling several times along the way. No, he thought. Her force presence was all but gone. With tears in his eyes, he knelt down beside her, picking up her limp, lifeless body. As a tear fell down on Rey's robes, Ben concentrated. Reaching out with the force, he felt the all so familiar presence of darkness, especially here on Xegol. But for the first time since he left Luke's temple, he reached out to the light. Where Rey's presence normally shone like the sun, there lay only a sliver left, tying her soul to her body. There was still a chance.

Reaching deep within himself, Ben felt for the light that Leia helped restore. Concentrating on the feelings and love he felt for Rey, for his mother, his father, and even Luke Skywalker, Ben pushed all that he had into Rey. Expelling the darkness that had swamped Rey's presence.

At first, nothing happened. Ben's head pounded and it seemed the force itself was telling him to lie down and let go, fade away into the force. But he held on. Clinging to Rey and the chance that she may waken. Just as he was about to slip away, Rey's big, beautiful, brown eyes fluttered open. Tears rolled down Ben's face, mixing with Rey's fresh ones.

"Ben," she whispered. With a surge of emotion and using all energy he had left in his body, Ben closed the distance between them, clashing their lips together. The force sang with harmony, their force bond being restored as the two met with a passion only seen once in a millennium. Bombs burst overhead as well as in their hearts. Pulling away Ben gave one final look at his beautiful Rey, as exertion finally took over, a dark feeling sinking in his stomach as he crashed back onto the floor. Rey knelt over him and the last thing he saw were those brown eyes again, wrought with worry, tears once again welling up.

* * *

Sobbing, Rey clung to Ben, fear racing through her. "No, no, no," she thought. An ever-growing dark presence was looming over Ben, clouding over the recently restored light. Reminiscent of Kylo-Ren's force aura but this time much worse. The feeling grew stronger and stronger until she could no longer tell the difference between Ben's presence and the late Emperor Palpatine's. Suddenly, like a distant echo inside her head, Luke's voice called out, "Run, Rey!"

But she could no longer do so, the power surging off of Ben putting her in a daze. "What could have happened?" She thought. Her lips still tingled from their kiss, reaching out and grasping his hand she stilled. As she felt a pulse come from him.

Ben's eyes shot open. But where there once were Ben's calm brown eyes, there now lay hatred. Burning sith yellow, Ben's face contorted with fury, yanking his hand away from Rey's and lifting Rey up with the force.

"Ben sto-," Rey's plea sputtered out as her throat begun to collapse at the command of Ben Solo.

With a yell only Kylo Ren could make he sputtered out the words that made Rey's heart crack in two, "Ben Solo is no more! You killed him."

Her vision blurry, and the last of her air supply leaving her body, she saw Kylo take the emperor's robes. Finally, she couldn't hold on any longer, the last thing she witnessed before passing out being Kylo holding a foreign lightsaber.


	2. Chapter 2

"Rey," a voice called out. "Rey!" the voice called out again, louder this time. Luke's voice. Opening her eyes, Rey groggily sat up and took in her dark surroundings. The throne room was all but rubble, the only light coming from the rising Xegol sun filtering through the cracks of the roof, and Luke's force ghost next to her.

"Rey, your friends are searching for you above, you need to get up," Luke said, looking down at Rey who lay on the ground still.

"Master Skywalker, Ben-" her voice cracked.

A pained look came upon Luke's face, "I know,"

"What happened to him?" Rey said, her tear stricken face pleading into Skywalker's eyes.

"In order to defeat Palpatine, the powers of all past generations of Jedi flowed through you. When Palpatine was finally killed, you fulfilled his dark ritual," Luke explained with a grim face.

Rey's face started to dawn with understanding, "So when I killed him, I absorbed all the powers of the Sith?"

"Yes, which completely defies all boundaries of the Force. The power of such conflicting energies nearly killed you. Saving you came at no small price for Ben. The only way he could save you from certain death was by expelling the darkness, but that darkness had to go somewhere."

"It went into Ben," Rey said with finality. "He's now Kylo Ren again."

"Yes but you can save him, Rey. You two are a Diad in the Force. A soul split in two. Destiny calls you two together, the Force calls you two together. There is still a chance."

"There is still a chance," Rey repeated, determination setting in. Rey stood up brushing the dust off her knees. Glancing around she saw a small hole in the rubble, leading back out into the main cavern. Striding towards it, Luke could only nod in approval.

"Good luck, Rey," Luke called out, "Ben escaped in a tie but my X-wing is still out there. May the force be with you." He vanished, and Rey turned back around, stepping through the hole.

The vast corridors once filled with lightning were now dark. Igniting her twin lightsabers, Rey strode forward, back to the lift out. The tanks full of Snoke's body parts glowed ominously, casting light on the dead bodies of Palpatine's servants. Lightsaber strikes marking their bodies. _Ben did this_, she thought.

Arriving back on the surface of Xegol, the sun now broke through the once stormy clouds, shedding light on a fleet of resistance ships as well as hundreds of seemingly random ones. The ruins of Star Destroyers layered the once barren landscape, smoke filling the horizon. Suddenly the falcon broke from the cluster of Resistance ships, touching down next to Luke's X-wing. The engine died out with a hiss and the entrance ramp came down. "Finn!" Rey exclaimed.

"Rey!" Finn came running down the ramp and over to her, Chewbacca letting out a roar and following close behind. Finn embraced her, letting out a sigh of relief, "I felt you die."

"I know, it was Ben, he saved me," Rey uttered.

"Kylo Ren did what?" Finn yelled, a look of shock on his face.

"RAWWGRARRR!" Chewbacca followed, looking at Rey confused.

Rey backed up a step, "There's still good in him, I felt it." At which Finn let out an annoyed sigh.

"Yeah well, it doesn't sound that way! People are rising up all over the galaxy, but some planets simply don't have the firepower to do so. And to make matters worse, news just reached us that Kylo Ren is back at the forefront and has ordered a galaxy-wide annihilation of any resistance sympathizers." Finn explained.

At the end of Finn's rant, Lando appeared at the entrance to the Falcon, "Are we just going to stand around and chat all day or are we going to win this war?" He said in a smooth accent, a dazzling smile pointed there way.

"C'mon guys, Lando's right, there's no point in bickering over it right now. People Need us," Rey said, leading the way onto the Falcon.

* * *

Fear. Anguish. Death. Terror. Kylo Ren took it all in as he stared down at Corusant's capital from the _Finalizer. _Hate burned in his fury yellow eyes. The New Republic's control of the capital would soon be extinguished, dreadnoughts bombing any opposition from orbit, decimating the moderately sized navy of the Republic. First-order flame troopers burned down settlements in the city streets.

After the destruction of the Hosnian system, the New Republic had moved much of its forces to coruscant, a fact that Ren had largely ignored in his time as Supreme Leader. But now, with the ongoing revolution throughout the Galaxy, it was imperative he regain control of the center of the galaxy.

One hour. One hour since he left _her_ on Xegol. That plaything of the light. How weak he had been to let her corrupt him. Let her _kiss_ him, "Prepare my ship!" He yelled to his subordinate. He would finish this battle himself.

* * *

The entrance to the senate was in ruins. Blackened bodies lay in the ruins of the once-grand pillars of the entrance hall. First Order Storm Troopers seized fire as Ren approached. The New Republic soldiers' eyes widened in fear when Ren approached. "Open Fire!" One of the commanders yelled, blaster fire racing toward Ren.

With an outstretched palm, he caught all of their fire with the force, suspending it all in mid-air as new lasers continued to come toward him. One soldier fired a rocket, it too got caught in Ren's web of dark force power. With a fiery roar, Ren sent it all back at the New Republic soldiers. Barely a cry escaped from the soldiers as they were all killed at once, the rocket exploding a hole in the once reinforced entrance to the senate. "On me!" Ren commanded, leading the way.

The pristine marble floors, untouched by war, accentuated the bright red walls of the halls surrounding the main senate chambers. Empty of any senators, Ren sent soldiers to clear any adjacent rooms. The walls shook from explosions outside but the building held steady.

Ren knew where he must go. Marching up several floors he finally reached the Supreme Chancellor's office. Marked by grand, golden doors, embroidered with the New Republic Insignia, Ren force pushed the office doors down. When the dust cleared, he was met with blaster fire. Quickly igniting Palpatine's lightsaber, he deflected the blaster bolts back at the royal guards that guarded the Chancellor.

Quivering in his chair, the terrified Chancellor shakily held a blaster out. Force pulling the blaster to himself, Ren tossed it aside. "You won't be needing that for our discussions today," Kylo Ren said calmly, a sinister smile creeping up his face.

* * *

Rey sat on the falcon with Poe, Finn, and Jannah discussing what happened on Xegol. "So he's really dead this time?" Poe questioned.

"Yes, I saw it with my own eyes, Palpatine's skin burned away until there was nothing left of him but ash," Rey confirmed.

"And Kylo Ren, he's still a bastard intent on destroying the galaxy?"

"Unfortunately yes," Rey sighed. _Oh, Ben_.

Just then, Lando appeared from the cockpit area. "Bad news friends, we've just received word that Coruscant has surrendered to the first order".

"No…" Jannah whispered. All grew quiet in the Falcon cabin as reality sunk in. Although many systems freed themselves, and the Sith fleet was destroyed, the First Order still reigned supreme.

"What does this mean for us, for the galaxy?" Finn asked.

"It means we're in a full-on, galactic civil war, a scale not seen since the Clone Wars ended," Lando replied.

Silence once again hit the cabin again until Poe stood up, "We can win this war. Good people reside in every system, they will fight if we lead them."

Finn nodded, "And we have something else helping us too. The force." Rey looked over at Finn questioningly. "That's what I've been meaning to tell you, Rey. I feel it. The Force, its energy. In everything."

"Then we will train, we will train and we will win this war," Rey said as she held out Luke's lightsaber toward Finn.

Poe groaned, "Not another Jedi to train, it was bad enough not having you around the past few months, now I'm losing Finn too?"

At that moment C3PO decided to grace the room with his presence. "Oh, I would be delighted to accompany you in their absence, Master Dameron." Poe's head hit the table with a thud.

While the others continued to discuss their next move, Rey excused herself to lie down and get some rest. Sitting down on her bunk in the tiny Falcon quarters, Rey closed her eyes, reaching out with the force. She could feel the life of her friends in the Falcon's main cabin, the force burning bright in Finn. She reached out further, feeling the cold expanse of space. Reaching further and further, light-years away, she pulled on the bond that connected her and Ben.

"You're bleeding still." Opening her eyes she saw Ben sitting on the bunk across from her. He wore the garb of Kylo Ren. Glowing red, fractured helmet and all. "Just there on your arm," he reached out to touch it.

"No thanks to you!" Rey yelled in his face, pushing his arm away.

"Oh come now, don't use that tone with me," he tilted his head, "don't you love me?"

With a yell, Rey ignited her lightsaber aiming for the still sitting, Kylo Ren's abdomen. Darting his hand out, Kylo Ren caught the tip of her lightsaber in his palm, absorbing her thrust using the force. Rey's face slackened with shock at the display of power before she was flung back onto the bed, her lightsaber flying into Ren's hand.

"I think I'll hang onto this for now," He said, before vanishing. Rey was once again alone. With one last anguished yell, she flung her pillow at the spot where Ben sat, laid down, and cried herself to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Rey sat on a log at the Resistance base in Ajan Kloss, scrubbing the moss and slime off of Luke's X-wing. She was fortunate to have had another Resistance member fly it back for her so she could rest on the Falcon. But now she sat tirelessly working on it, thinking about Ben. He took her lightsaber, _Leia's_ lightsaber. _I'll need a new one_, she thought. While Finn still had Luke's old saber, she knew that it'd both do them good to craft a new one. Kyber Crystals have a force essence, and the more attuned you are to your own personal crystal, the better you'd be with it as a lightsaber. Finishing up her maintenance on the X-wing, she searched for Finn. Celebrations hadn't lasted long upon returning to Ajan Kloss yesterday, the First Order still looming ominously over the galaxy. Everyone had quickly gone back to work, many returning to their ships to patch up from the fight. Poe and Chewy left on the Falcon to visit an old friend while Finn had been left here as acting General of the Resistance. Approaching central headquarters, she found Finn with some other admirals as well as Lando, discussing over a holographic map of the galaxy. "No! We must act now while the First Order is still weakened," Admiral Statura yelled at Finn. "Yes, I know your reasoning, but we have to also consider that we're spread out ourselves, most of our forces are local militias spread throughout the galaxy. If we could rally together we could stand strong against even the strongest First Order fleets," Finn reasoned. Lando stepped in, "I agree with the kid, we'd be stronger together than if we just rushed in now." Stepping into the room, Rey cleared her throat, "Sorry to interrupt but may I speak to Finn?" Rey asked. "Yeah, sure, Rey," Finn said, stepping outside. Rey grasped his hand, "I know you're busy with plans and preparation but do you think you could leave command to Lando or someone for a day? There's something I think we should do." 

* * *

Although Finn had been hesitant at first, with a little convincing he had hopped in Luke's X-wing with her. Now back to back, Rey flew the X-wing into Mygeeto's atmosphere. Snow and ice pelted the windshield, howling wind drowning out the sound of the ship's engine. "Rey, where are we supposed to land, I can't see anything in this!" Finn called out from behind her. "Reach out with the force, feel for a safe place to land!" Rey yelled back. She reached out herself, sensing nothing but frozen peaks and snow, but going further, a lake. Frozen, and nestled in a valley at the base of a mountain. Perfect. "I don't feel anything! Just cold, emptiness!" Finn yelled, "There's no landing bays or any sign of civilization for that matter!" Just then, R2D2 beeped a series of noises that only Rey could understand. "That's cause there isn't any, R2 says the empire drained Mygeeto of its resources and practically wiped out all signs of life years ago!" Rey shouted. "Sense for something else, a calm in the storm!" "I see it, a lake beneath us!" Finn shouted excitedly. Pitching the X-wing downwards Rey broke through the clouds and storm, the wind calming in the valley enough for her to slow their descent and land on the frozen lake. Donned in thick, cold-proof, robes and furs, it was hard for Rey to make Finn out. His white attire matching the snow behind him. R2 popped out of the X-wing, leading the way towards the nearest mountain like a beacon with his bright red and blue lights. Finn looked over towards Rey, "How does he know we want to go that way?" he asked her. "I don't know, maybe he has a feeling?" Rey replied with a knowing smile. "I didn't know droids could use the force?" Finn said with an astonished look. "Much to learn, you still have, Padawan Finn," Rey said with a chuckle, following R2 and knowing somewhere in her heart a certain Jedi master would be proud of her. As the trio got closer to the base of the mountain, Rey reached out with the force, sensing what she needed in a cave behind a wall of boulders and ice. "Now what?" Finn asked, looking up at the massive wall in front of them. "Now, it's time for your first lesson, Padawan," Rey replied, facing him. "Use the force to lift as much as you can from this pile of rocks, what we need lies behind it." Reaching a hand forward as he remembered Rey doing on Crait, he concentrated. Rey watched on for 10 minutes as Finn's brow furrowed, a bead of sweat rolling down his forehead. R2 made a whine of sadness at the lack of progress, tipping his body downwards. Finally, something moved. Slowly rising, a pebble floated off the pile. With his eyes still closed, a smile lit Finn's face, "I think I'm doing something!" he yelled, excited. Reaching out her hand, Rey called upon her ancestral Jedi powers again, lifting the entire pile of rubble and ice and with ease moving it to the side. Finn's eyes opened, "Wow, I did it!" R2 looked from Rey to Finn and back to Rey again. Making a shush sign with her finger, Rey pleaded with her eyes to give this moment to him. Nodding as much as a droid can, R2 made a whirling noise and shot off into the darkness of the cave. "I think that's our cue again," Rey said with a smile towards Finn, following R2 into the cave. The cave seemed familiar but oh so different to Rey. Somewhere in the back of her brain, she received images of a similar ice plant, _Ilum, _a voice seemed to say. All-around the cave, glowing blue crystals stood embedded in the walls. Hundreds of feet tall, with many different tunnels leading into the darkness, the cave was a dazzling sight. Standing near a rather large crystal embedded on a pick of ice, Finn examined the dazzling jewel. "So these are Kyber crystals?" Finn asked her. "I believe so…" Rey whispered, her breath creating a bit of fog in front of her face. "The crystal meant for you will call out to you, just feel." In a daze, she walked towards one of the tunnels, R2 beeping questioningly. "Stay hear R2," she said, "We'll meet you back at the entrance." Her boots crunched against the frozen snow beneath her as she strode onwards. The lights from the Kyber crystals died out as she walked further along the tunnel, leaving her in utter darkness. Closing her eyes and reaching out with the force, it guided her through the darkness until she felt herself enter another large cavern. Much like the cave R2 was still in, she could tell it was vast, this time though the only light came from a large Kyber crystal. The entire cavern's floor was flat and pure, slippery ice, except for a large mound of ice in the center of the room. Upon this sat her crystal, she could feel it. Striding towards it she placed one foot on the mound when a chilling sound stopped her. The hiss of a lightsaber. Whirling around she just dodged a swing from a fiery red lightsaber, the stroke from the saber striking her Kyber crystal instead, sending it shattered in pieces across the floor. The glowing pieces slid across the icy plane, illuminating Kylo Ren beside her. "No!" She screamed, force pushing Ren and sending him flying into the wall of the cavern. "Why would you do that?" "Do what? He said with a sinister smile. Deactivating his lightsaber, Kylo Ren disappearing from sight, the darkness swallowing him. Rey frantically looked around, seeing nothing but her shattered crystal. Suddenly breath hit her ear, causing goosebumps to run up her arms. "Look how I still affect you," Ren whispered in her ear, grabbing on to her waist and squeezing. Whirling around, Rey force pulled his lightsaber to her, igniting the crimson blade and pointing it at him. "Oh, we both know you'd never do that," Ren said, side-stepping the blade and once again stepping into her personal space. Rey looked up into his yellow eyes defyingly, "Why are you doing this Ben?" she asked. Upon his old name being said, Ren's smile turned down, hate burning in his eyes, "Because it's fun." Grasping his lightsaber back from her, he spun it towards Rey, striking her through the gut. "Now you know how it feels," he said, before disappearing. Letting out a gasp, Rey collapsed on the icy floor, the last thing she witnessed being Finn sprinting towards her, calling out her name.


End file.
